Bands

Whitesnake

Whitesnake are a rock band formed in England in 1978 by David Coverdale, after his departure from his previous band Deep Purple. Their early material has been compared by critics to the blues rock of Deep Purple, but they slowly began moving toward a more commercially accessible rock style. By the turn of the decade, the band's commercial fortunes changed and they released a string of UK top 10 albums, Ready an' Willing (1980), Come an' Get It (1981), Saints & Sinners (1982) and Slide It In (1984), the last of which was their first to chart in the US and is certified 2x platinum.

Years Active: 1978-1990, 1994, 1997, 2002-present.

Genres: Rock, blues rock, hard rock, heavy metal.

Members: David Coverdale, Tommy Aldridge, Reb Beach, Joel Hoekstra, Michael Devin, Michele Luppi.

Albums: Trouble (1978), Lovehunter (1979), Ready an' Willing (1980), Come an' Get It (1981), Saints & Sinners (1982), Slide It In (1984), Whitesnake (1987), Slip of the Tongue (1989), Restless Heart (1997), Good to Be Bad (2008), Forevermore (2011), The Purple Album (2015).

Story: After recording two solo albums, former Deep Purplevocalist David Coverdaleformed Whitesnake around 1977. In the glut of hard rock and heavy metal bands of the late '70s, their first albums got somewhat lost in the shuffle, although they were fairly popular in Europe and Japan. During 1982,Coverdale took some time off so he could take care of his sick daughter. When he re-emerged with a new version of Whitesnake in 1984, the band sounded revitalized and energetic. Slide It In may have relied onLed Zeppelin's and Deep Purple's old tricks, but the band had a knack for writing hooks; the record became their first platinum album. Three years later, Whitesnakereleased an eponymous album (titled 1987 in Europe) that was even better. Portions of the album were blatantly derivative -- "Still of the Night" was a dead ringer for early Zeppelin -- but the group could write powerful, heavy rockers like "Here I Go Again" that were driven as much by melody as riffs, as well as hit power ballads like "Is This Love." Whitesnake was an enormous international success, selling over six million copies in the U.S. alone.



Before they recorded their follow-up, 1989's Slip of the Tongue, Coverdale again assembled a completely new version of the band, featuring guitar virtuoso Steve Vai. Although the record went platinum, it was a considerable disappointment after the across-the-board success of Whitesnake. Coverdaleput Whitesnake on hiatus after that album. In 1993, he released a collaboration with former Led Zeppelinguitarist Jimmy Page that was surprisingly lackluster. The following year, Whitesnake issued a greatest-hits album in the U.S. and Canada focusing solely on material from their final three albums (as well as containing a few unreleased tracks).



In 1997, Coverdaleresurrected Whitesnake(guitarist Adrian Vandenbergwas the only remaining member of the group's latter-day lineup), issuing Restless Heart the same year. Surprisingly, the album wasn't even issued in the United States. On the ensuing tour, Coverdale and Vandenbergperformed an "unplugged" show in Japan that was recorded and issued the following year under the titleStarkers in Tokyo. By the late '90s, however, Coverdaleonce again put Whitesnake on hold, as he concentrated on recording his first solo album in nearly 22 years. Into the Light was issued in September 2000, featuring journeyman guitarist Earl Slick. After a lengthy hiatus that saw the release of countless "greatest-hits" and "live" collections, the band returned in 2008 with the impressive Good to Be Bad. Coverdale and Whitesnaketoured the album throughout Europe and Japan. The band returned to the recording studio in 2010 with new members bassist Michael Devin (formerly of Lynch Mob) and drummer Brian Tichy, who appeared alongside guitarists Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach, and guest keyboardist Timothy Drury (as well asCoverdale's son Jasper on backing vocals on various tracks). The band's 11th album, Forevermore, was preceded by the issue of the single "Love Will Set You Free," and released in the spring of 2011. 2015 saw the release of The Purple Album, which featured remakes of cuts from Deep Purple lineups Mark III and Mark IV.